Hey all,
I have a cookbook here where I found a recipe I want to make and meal plan for, but am a little confused about what to do with a specific ingredient.
The recipe is for a sauerkraut soup, and the recipe calls for a teaspoon of tomato puree. My confusion is that I am completely unfamiliar with tomato puree, and am finding it can be one of two different things, and the struggle is in sorting out which one of these two things is the one I’m looking for. Being in Canada, this isn’t a product I recall seeing at all on store shelves.
Apparently in the UK and Australia, tomato puree is similar to tomato paste, though slightly different. However, in the U.S., tomato puree appears to be a product that is thinner than tomato paste, but thicker than tomato sauce.
My confusion is that this cookbook was published by an American authour in the U.S… The measurements in the book are all imperial, calling for pints and pounds and the likes. However, things don’t appear to add up as it doesn’t make sense to me that someone would open a larger can like that simply for a teaspoon of ingredient. I’m unsure if things have changed over the years, but if it at all helps, this cookbook was published in 1982.
Thanks in advance!
Recipe is really short, so here’s pretty much the full thing:
Sauerkraut Soup Russian-Style
3 to 4 tablespoons butter (am substituting with margarine)
1 onion, sliced
2 small carrots, sliced
1 potato, peeled, sliced
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon tomato puree
3/4 pound sauerkraut
4 to 5 cups Basic Beef Stock (references other recipe in book, substituting with premade vegetable broth)
1 tablespoon chopped parsley (substituting with half the amount in dried parsley)
1 teaspoon chopped chervil (might omit or replace with half amount herbes de provence since store doesn’t sell)
Sour cream
Melt butter; cook onion and carrots until golden. Add potato. Stir in flour; when smooth, add tomato puree and sauerkraut. Cook a few minutes; stir constantly. Add stock and herbs; bring to boil. Simmer about 40 minutes; season to taste. Serve hot with sour cream in each soup cup. Yield 4 to 6 servings.
For this recipe I would use tomato paste. But if I didn’t have any on hand or I didn’t have one that was open, I would just use a tablespoon or so of ketchup. The extra vinegar from the ketchup would not be out of place here.
Thanks, might explore that as an option.
Yeah, for that amount you’d use paste.
Thanks! Much appreciated.
You can buy the paste in tubes, much more useful and it lasts for weeks in the fridge after opening (package says a couple weeks, but I’ve gone over a month)